China to spend $767b on roads

China will allocate about US$767 billion for road projects between 2013 and 2030, the Ministry of Transport said, in the latest step by policymakers to underpin growth in the world's second-largest economy, reported Reuters.

China plans to have about 400,000 km of roads across the country by 2030, compared to 173,000 km by the end of 2012, Dai Dongchang, an official from the Ministry told a news conference.

Ordinary road building and renovation will get $359.09 billion while the remaining will be spent on highway construction, Dai said, quoting a national plan for a road network.

"The funds used for ordinary road projects will mainly come from government fiscal spending while we will continue to enforce diversified investment and financing policies for highway building, including encouraging private investors," Dai said.

China said in September 2012 it had given the green light to 60 infrastructure projects worth more than $150 billion as part of a slew of pro-growth policy initiatives.

China's economic growth slowed to 7.7 percent in the first quarter this year from a year ago, down from a rate of 7.9 percent in the previous three-month period, and weak activity this year has raised the possibility of a further slowdown.